Ezekiel · chapter 17 of 48
Updated on
Ezekiel 17 is a parable with its interpretation: a great eagle takes the top of a cedar and carries it to a land of merchants, plants a vine, and the vine turns toward a second eagle. It represents the king of Babylon, who carried Jehoiachin into exile and set Zedekiah in his place, who broke his oath and turned to Egypt. The chapter ends with the Lord's promise to plant a tender sprig on the high mountain of Israel.
Ezekiel 17 belongs to the group of allegories in this section and speaks of international politics in the language of birds and plants. It is the time when Judah, a vassal of Babylon, is tempted to rebel with Egypt's help. Ezekiel shows that breaking the oath made to Babylon in the Lord's name is also an offense against God, and he ends with a hope that points beyond the kings of Judah.
The Lord tells Ezekiel to propose a riddle and a parable to the house of Israel. A great eagle with great wings and full plumage comes to Lebanon and takes the top of a cedar; he plucks off its topmost shoot and carries it to a land of trade and sets it in a city of merchants. Then he takes some of the seed of the land and plants it beside abundant waters, and it sprouts as a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turn toward him and whose roots remain under him.
There is another great eagle with great wings and much plumage. This vine bends its roots toward him and shoots out its branches to him, that he might water it from the trenches of its planting, though it was planted in good soil by abundant waters, to bear fruit. The Lord asks whether it will thrive, or whether the first eagle will pull it up.
The interpretation comes at once. The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and princes and brought them to Babylon. He took one of the royal offspring, made a covenant with him and put him under oath. But this one rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt to get horses and a large army. God asks whether he will succeed who breaks a sworn covenant. He will die in Babylon, and Pharaoh will not help him in war. He despised the oath and broke the covenant, which was also an oath by God's name, and so he will be caught in his net.
The chapter closes with hope. The Lord will take a tender sprig from the top of the cedar and plant it on a high and lofty mountain of Israel. It will bear branches, produce fruit and become a noble cedar; under it birds of every kind will dwell. And all the trees will know that the Lord brings low the high tree and makes high the low tree.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord asks Ezekiel to interpret the parable: the king of Babylon carried off the king and princes of Jerusalem. God himself explains that this story concerns concrete politics, not only birds.
The king who had sworn loyalty rebelled and sent ambassadors to Egypt asking for horses and troops. Ezekiel poses a question he has already answered: will anyone prosper who breaks a covenant?
The broken oath was also an oath by God's name, so in breaking it Zedekiah offended the Lord. God takes seriously the word given in his name.
The Lord himself will take a tender sprig and plant it on a high mountain of Israel, where it will grow to be a noble cedar. Many Christian readers see here a promise of the Messiah, the descendant of David.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The top of a cedar, from which he plucks the topmost shoot. — Ezekiel 17:3-4
Answer: Toward the second eagle. — Ezekiel 17:7
Answer: He brought them with him to Babylon. — Ezekiel 17:12
Answer: To Egypt, to get horses and a large army. — Ezekiel 17:15
Answer: The oath made in his name and the covenant he broke. — Ezekiel 17:19
Answer: A tender sprig, which will become a noble cedar. — Ezekiel 17:22-23
Zedekiah sought security in human alliances and broke an oath made in God's name. This parable invites us to examine what we trust in when fear presses and whether we keep our promises, especially those made before God. Integrity is no small matter to the Lord.
But the chapter ends with the Lord himself planting something new. When human leaders fail, God acts. In group study, you can talk about how Christian hope rests on Christ, the descendant of David, and not on political strength or the leaders of the day.
Ezekiel 17 explains the fall of Zedekiah with a parable and promises a sprig that will become a noble cedar. In chapter 18 the prophet will answer a popular proverb about parents' guilt and personal responsibility.
The first is the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who took Jehoiachin and the nobles of Judah into exile in 597 BC. The second is the Pharaoh of Egypt, to whom Zedekiah turned for help. The interpretation is given by the text itself in verses 11 to 18.
The text does not name him. Many Christian readers understand him as the Messiah, a descendant of David, whom the Lord will plant and under whose reign birds of every kind will dwell, an image Jesus echoes in parables about the kingdom of God. Others read it as the restoration of the house of David in general.